


Midnight Feast

by MountainRose



Series: Tumblr Prompts [8]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Gen, Long day at work, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, dinner in bed, snuggles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-08
Updated: 2014-05-08
Packaged: 2018-01-24 00:55:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1585742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MountainRose/pseuds/MountainRose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony has had a long, long day, but his significant others know how to settle him down.</p><p>___________</p><p>From the following tumblr prompt:<br/>I love Pepperstony! But I love any Tony pairing where he gets lots of love and attention. Clint/Tony/Steve is also awesome! How about Tony has a bad day at work, (his projects aren't working like they should, R&D minions are being idiots, the board is being horrible) and his SO(s) surprise him with dinner and cuddles and a lot of attention to make his day end really well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Midnight Feast

**Author's Note:**

> Posted originally on tumblr: http://rose-on-the-mountain.tumblr.com/post/85123172969/i-love-pepperstony-but-i-love-any-tony-pairing-where
> 
> Beta'd by Szzzt

“You _idiot!_ No. Stop. Using the G-471 with an isotonic solution would generate hydrolysis of the—No. Think about the surface electron properties and get back to me.”

“We could dope with chromium to increase—“

“Test it and _get back to me._ When you have actual _data._ Fucking hell.”

“Sir, the seal elasticity tests are in.”

“Hand it over... No. Shit. Raise the rubberizer content in increments of 5 grams per kilo, run the tests again. Where’re the casing prototypes, thank you Intern Red. Where’s your buddy?”  

“Uh, Ja—Intern Blue is on blueprint duty, Mr Stark.”

“Great, once she’s finished running plans between departments, get her to remind the idiots that the cloud is secure and designed for that shit. I want you and her on ruggedizing tests. Hit shit with rocks and I want nonpolar solvent tests done on the o-rings.”

“Yessir!”

“DO NOT FUCKING PUT THAT THERE you will blow the whole project out of the water, hands down. _Down._ Thank you. Not you, Red, you order your stuff. ‘Printers to me.”

Pepper watched from the doorway as Tony rallied the designers into a conference, with the holographic blueprint hovering in the middle of their group. He was abrasive, but they were used to that. It was the subtly slowed flick of his fingers that had Pepper calling the caterers for dinner. It was three AM, but the Japan shift on floors 15 through 17 meant the kitchen would still be staffed. If she could get Tony to eat, he might slow down long enough to sleep. Apparently it was noodle night, so she ordered one of everything, to be given to Dummy.

The group of designers splintered and Tony’s voice echoed through the design suite; “Do not fuck this up people! You had three months to bring this to me, now you’ve got three days. Get on with it.”

Pepper stood up straight and cocked her head; it was enough to get Tony’s attention. He slumped tiredly in an uncomfortable mix of vulnerability and dread and she smiled; for the first time in forty-eight hours, she wasn’t summoning him to another board meeting. He relaxed again, taking the time to nudge his redheaded intern in the right direction vis-a-vis JARVIS’ acquisition system.

“Hey,”

“Hey yourself, Pep. What’ve you got for me?” Tony asked, standing at the edge of the holographic design space, unwilling to cross the line.

“Nothing; you’re done.” Pepper reached out to fuss at his collar; just enough physical contact to remind him he liked it. “Let these guys run down and come have some food.”

Tony looked speculative, glaring at the design team, despite their quiet, competent bustle. Though, Pepper wouldn’t know if they were making egregious errors unless they were trying to hide it.

“Tony...”

“Fine, yes. The microfracture problem is sorted, and the electronics loom is an ANT algorithm away from completion.” He ran his hands through his hair, and opened his mouth, ready to find reasons to stay.

“Well alright then. Do you think Steve’ll wake up if we eat dinner in bed?”

Tony blinked, derailed and processing that thought. “...did you order extra?”

“No, Tony, I was going to tease the supersoldier metabolism with high calorie smell and not let him eat.”

Tony huffed at her. “No need for sarcasm.” He turned to the room at large and clapped for attention over the low babble of voices. “Alright! Any further questions; in my inbox before you clock off. Same for those test results, interns. Get some rest, eat, we did good work today; I’m downclassing us from ‘Red’ to ‘Amber’.”

The room cheered and clapped in a subdued, tired way, and started writing up their reports as Tony turned his back on them. “Shall we, Ms. Potts?” he said, offering his arm.

“This way, Mr. Stark.” She took it, of course, because Tony asking for physical contact of any sort was not something you refused. Dummy was already in the elevator, six takeout tubs in a box hanging from his claw.

“Hey, buddy. You miss me?” Tony asked, running a thumb over Dummy’s claw.

“Bwweooooooopeeeeep,” the ‘bot replied, bobbing just enough to offer them the food.

“Thank you, Dummy. Will you carry it for us? It’s nearly bedtime,” Pepper said. ‘Bedtime’ was a keyword, and she used it deliberately, so than when she sent him to charge, he’d know it was just time, not because he was supposed to learn something from whatever had just happened.

“Pwoooot.”

Tony was quiet, hip leaning against Dummy’s main piston, all the way up to the penthouse. Pepper didn’t push; he needed to recalibrate to human speeds. She did take her heels off, though. A full two days of dealing with a frightened board and manufacturers who needed the production specs _now_ had had her on her feet a lot more than her masseuse recommended.

Dummy followed them, peeping softly to Tony, across the penthouse and waited while they fetched cutlery and napkins from the kitchen.

“Tony? Why don’t you go get changed? I’ll send Dummy to charge.”

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Tony blinked at Pepper --his head still all clogged up with designs and failure modes-- and nodded, because Pepper knew what to do even when he didn’t. He took his handful of spoons and forks and the box of food, and padded into the bedroom. The lights were on, very dim, but still on, and Steve was dozing, curled up on the left side.

He had obviously slept properly at some point, because the covers were mussed from his spread-eagle habit, but he was awake-ish now and needing the comfort of facing the entrance. Tony put their dinners down on the end of the bed and shuffled to the closet to change into something with a softer waistband and a hole for the reactor.

Steve made a waking-up noise, some barely-there words and a snuffle, and Tony hummed inquisitively. Steve huffed and relaxed into waking up, pressing his face into the pillow.

Soft clothes felt fantastic after his long, disgustingly grease-free day in the design suite, and sitting on the edge of the bed to take his socks off felt like heaven; the bigger holograms kept you standing for a lot of the work. He sat there, wriggling his toes and marvelling at them in a distant kind of way.

Pepper headed for the closet when she came back and made an audible happy-noise when she took her bra off. Tony wondered if it was the one that left red marks; he wished she wouldn’t wear that one, especially since he’d bought it because it was pretty.

Steve shuffled over, pressing his – _jesus_ \--  icy cold nose to the strip of skin showing between Tony’s shirt and pants. A spark shot up his spine, leaving him feeling shaky and he twisted to put a hand in Steve’s hair, mindful that he was clumsy with exhaustion. Steve blinked up at him gratefully.

“...’m glad you’re here,” the big dope said, smiling and curling around to put his cheek on Tony’s thigh. It felt _so good_ to just be near him, to have someone actually physically touching him. Tony hadn’t realized how touch hungry he was.

“Budge over, soldier; food time.”

Steve perked up and rubbed his eyes clear, shuffling towards the middle of the bed while Tony retrieved their dinner.

“Under the covers, Tony,” Pepper said, on her way from the closet to the bathroom. Tony grumbled, but slid in next to Steve, a carton of pork noodles for Steve in one hand and _hofun_ duck for himself in the other.

JARVIS was gonna yell if they got sauce on the sheets again. He wriggled his toes against the cotton, still surprised by the un-socked sensation. God, he must have been up for a _long time._

Pepper bullied him into lying inside the circle of Steve’s arms, despite the raging impracticality of it, and Steve happily ate around him, squishing him against his chest and ferrying noodles over his shoulder. Tony was starting to feel floaty, from the contrast between engineer-space and relaxed-space, so he wriggled down with a little frown and dug in steadily. Touch felt a bit like electricity when he had been in his own bubble for a while, and the solid, warm contact of leaning against Steve’s chest was almost too much at once. But, he had food as a distraction and... yeah, he was plenty hungry

“How’re you doing tonight, Steve?” Pep asked quietly, over his head.

“Not terrible. It was just the one.”

Pep’s hair brushed Tony’s shoulder as she leaned in to kiss Steve on the cheek. “Well, no more bad dreams tonight, honey. We’ve got you.”

Tony squeezed Steve’s thigh comfortingly, and stuffed his face in silence. Slowly, the toe-wriggling and fidgeting died away. The tingles and shocks of touch faded into something warm and sleepy as Steve ploughed through his second carton effortlessly.

Tony made it most of the way through his first before he fumbled the fork and it dropped into the box, getting sauce half way up the handle.

“Yeah, you’re done...” Pepper said, smiling down at him as he glared sleepily in her direction. He was pretty much full; carbs and protein, 10/10, but he could... still... He cracked his jaw on a yawn and wriggled onto his side, face smushed up against Steve’s chest.

“There you go... goodnight, Tony.”

“’night Pep.”

  


**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to drop me prompts at http://rose-on-the-mountain.tumblr.com/ask  
> Or just come to chat. ^_^


End file.
